Game Day is approaching

There's nothing cooking in the kitchen today.  Game day is approaching fast and I have a couple of ideas in store for the next day or two.  Happy Sunday!

Fajitas & Refried Beans

Chicken - Use every last drop!

Just Cluckin' around... One whole chicken gives so much. Roasted 1/2 chicken, two 1/4's in different marinades. When cutting up the chicken I saved the extra skin trimmed off and fried them (can eat like chicharrones if desired, strained the grease to get pure chicken fat for future frying. Have the roasted bones to now add water, seasoning and veggie scraps to make stock.

Pasta Primavera

Mmmm by far one of my favorite light pasta sauces and so simple. Zuchinni, yellow squash, tomatoes, red pepper add some chicken broth, fresh chopped garlic, parsley, basil a little salt & pepper. Toss with pasta.

Peppers!

Peppers! Love your peppers. You can slice, dice, ring, chop or even freeze whole. When my store has the baby ones 2 for $5 I get them and freeze in shapes, colors etc for future use ready to go.

Citrus - Love those lemons and limes!

Let's get fresh... what kind of lemon or lime grew in a bottle? Quick, cheap, easy true flavor. Zest em up and store in freezer long term, short term fridge is ok. (I store mine in cute little Tupperware magnets in the freezer). Juice em up and freeze in cube trays (I use the water bottle trays for flat storage). Slices and wedges can also be frozen to throw in water or tea. Get your head out of the bottle and enjoy your citrus.

Freezer Part 2

Love your freezer! Remember that low-sodium deli Turkey I found back in October and I individually quick froze it after patting dry? And the variety cheese slice pack from Costco? Well here they are a couple months later ready for some tasty sandwiches. Once defrosted I thoroughly pat/squeeze any liquid off the meat and it's good to go. Made the roomie a sandwich 1/2 with this and 1/2 that he just bought and he couldn't tell the difference!

Love Your Freezer

And are you wondering just what does this crazy girl's freezer look like with everything she's always saving and cooking from scratch? Here it is... (yes I'm a little OCD in my organization lol) Take note, 90-95% is all natural, homemade or not processed. Lean Cuisine for lunch? No thanks, keep your sodium in a box. With little effort, I froze some good food into my own "boxed lunch". Tip - super easy is to use muffin tins to portion it out and freeze. Example - a "cube" of meat, a "cube" of veggies a cube of some fruit, a dinner roll - throw it all in one freezer bag, vacuum seal and you have lunch to go. Stocks, broths, veggie blends, sauces, lunches to go, soups individually portioned, flavored "ice cubes" lemon/lime/orange/pickle juice/fresh tomato juice (not the can crap). A couple of logs of different herb butters I made and froze into individual cubes. With a few quick things like this even with a busy family, work etc. you can still eat healthy, full flavor, gourmet flavors very easily. Bon Appetit!

Tuna

Tuna - How were you brought up for a tuna sandwich? Can of tuna quickly drained, some mayo or salad dressing and maybe a little onion and/or celery? Me too! Treat yourself and your taste buds. Give that can some life. I open it throw it in a strainer, rinse well with water to remove excess salt then let it drain for about an hour and it's perfect texture and flavor wise much better than just cracking the can. Experiment add some fruit or nuts or veggies to that mix. I'm having tuna, swiss, tomato, radish, pickle today with garlic herb lemonaise.

Chicken Prep For The Week

Boiled a chicken to get ready for the week strips, slices, shredded and cubed. Now I just have to butcher this raw beef down into strips, slices and cubes to vacuum seal and freeze for later. I love when there's good meat coupons or sales, you have coupons to stock up. And the last of my stocks is simmering away now then I'm all "stocked up" 

Celery

Celery? If someone said they were making Celery __________ I don't imagine a lot of people get too excited. A few thoughts on celery while doing my prep work for later... This is what I do with it. First I cut the bottom off and remove pieces until there's only about 1 row around and place in water on a windowsill. In just a few days you will see it sprouting from the middle. Change the water every couple days or when it looks cloudy. The celery sticks I store in the fridge covered in cold water and they are crisp and ready for a really really long time. Also I do peel the backs quick to get rid of the stringy stick in your teeth layer. The plant there is the "butt" from Thanksgiving. I've put it in soil now, but think it was growing faster in just water. I'm gonna leave the new one in just water and compare. Leaves: soooooo flavorful. I take them off, and depending on my needs I will chop them up to use fresh within a week or 2. Or I dry them and freeze them. Add them to soups, sauces etc for awesome celery flavor. Stalk tops: I will add them to my frozen veggie scrap bag for future stocks.
This time I'm going to make the most delicious, naturally low fat, naturally low sodium Cream of Celery Soup to use instead of cans in the future.

Avocados

Avocados. Yummy little fruits. But if you're like me and rarely have a use for the whole thing at once besides guacamole/dip or dressings probably stay away due to the fact that they brown at the speed of light it seems. I've tried all the tricks out there and this works best in my experience. Store avacado 1/2, slices or diced in an airtight container with some onion. This is 3 days old, still awesome and hardly any brown. I wrapped the container in plastic wrap before putting the lid on. No pit, no juices. Just onion, airtight and get it in as quickly as possible after cutting it.

Welcome!

Well here we go... after many requests and suggestions.  If you're reading and non my FB you'll recognize the first couple posts after that it's all new.  Enjoy and share!